A Rush Of Blood to the Head
by Kronoskingofthemonkeypeople
Summary: HOUSE MD GREY'S ANATOMY CROSSOVER! That's right, the good doctor's going to Seatle Grace. Burke's patient starts seizing after a successful surgery. But why? Only one man can figure it out: Dr House and his ducklings!
1. Chapter I

'**A Rush of Blood to the Head'** Chapter I

"Well, the surgery went well and we're looking at a full recovery."

Burke smiled at the patient in front of him, smiling back with a sincere but weak smile.

"Thankyou Dr. Burke."

"Anytime. Dr Grey?"

Meredith put his file back on to the foot of the bed and walked out of the room with Burke. "You think he's going to be ok?" She asked softly.

"Hard to tell. I removed most of the tumour, the next few months will see tell if it's going to come back. He's lucky it was benign."

They came up to the elevator and Meredith pressed the button.

"Good work today Grey."

"Thankyou Dr Burke." Burke walked down the hallway leaving Meredith by the elevator. The was a ding and the metal door open revealing Derek inside, leaning on the walls.

"Oh!" Meredith was shocked, she hadn't seen Derek since she told him about Finn and got the reaction she definitely wasn't expecting. Walking into the elevator she moved to the side and pressed one of the buttons. She then faced the metal doors, determined not to hound Derek. She tried to give him time but she didn't. Now she's screwed it up. She cannot interfere any more. He's moved on, he walked away.

"Meredith?"

Meredith stiffened up, she could hear Derek move to her side, trying to turn her sight. "How's you day?" Meredith tried in vain to dissuade Derek from the inevitable conversation.

"Ok."

Meredith smirked at the word. Ok, ok ok... the same thing going around and around her head. What happened to 'I love you Meredith' or 'Now I'll take that coffee you owed me'?

"We need to talk." Meredith looked up reluctantly at Derek. She sighed and was about to answer when her pager went off. Quickly she looked at it. Code Blue room 401. Shit, that was Burke's guy.

0000000000000000000

Meredith rushed into Room 401, now crowded with nurses trying to hold the patient down. He was seizing violently. Why the hell was he seizing? It made no sense. Quickly she ran up to the bed and helped the nurses.

"Page Dr Burke and push 12 of epi, stat!"

The nurse quickly shuffled through the draws as Meredith tried in vain to hold her patient down. Swiftly the nurse gave the epi and slowly the patient stoped seizing. Suddenly Burke rushed in the room.

"What happened?"

Meredith couldn't answer, she was exhausted, but she simply did not know what happened. She felt something warm against her arm which was resting on the patient. She threw back the patient's sheet and saw it. Blood, everywhere on the bed. The patient had bled out profusely. Burke walked wide eyed towards the bed and looked at Meredith, equally confused. The cancer wouldn't have done this.

00000000000

NB: right, House shall get on the case next chapter, but reviews would be nice if you want it to be written better, or any suggestions how to make it better – you're reading it so contributions would be fantastic. Ok, will stop now. Hope you enjoy


	2. Chapter II

**A Rush Of Blood to the Head **– Chapter II

"What are we looking at?"

Burke stood next to Meredith in the darkened room, their faces illuminated by the blue light in front of them.

"The chest films. There's some scaring around the lungs, but that's from the surgery, nothing that would explain the seizing."

"Or the blood."

"Or that..." Meredith thought of the litres of blood that the man must have bled. She was never squeamish when it came to that – she was a surgeon for god's sake – but the sight of all that blood made her feel queasy inside.

"I've got CT of the abdomen." Bailey walked into the room, followed enthusiastically by George. Bailey put the films up and turned the light on. All four leaned into the films intently.

"Midline burst, just there." George pointed.

"How do we proceed?" Bailey asked.

"Get him into surgery, repair the tear and figure out why the hell he bled from his gut in the first place."

"Good, prep Mr Dunn for surgery. Dr Burke?"

"Go ahead. Just watch out, I think he might have a problem clotting." Bailey walked out with George, leaving Burke in the room with Meredith.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?"

Burke sighed. "No idea. I'm a surgeon, not a diagnostician however good I am. But we have to figure out the cause of this because it will probably happen again."

Meredith turned off the lights and collected the films.

"Hold on," Burke said suddenly. "Get Yang, Stevens and Karev."

"Why?"

"We need a consult. And I know just the one. Just get them all and meet me in conference room 1."

Burke walked out of the room leaving Meredith alone. And confused.

0000000000000000000000

Dr Cameron sat House's desk, bored and tired. It had been weeks since they have been given a new case. Chase and Forman were having lunch at the table and quizzing each other on their diagnosis skills.

"Blinding, hallucinations and internal bleeding."

"Naphthalene poisoning. Too easy"

"You didn't think so before..."

Cameron had been given the usual task of reading and answering House's emails while he was being 'tortured' in the clinic. She had begun to zone out when suddenly the phone rung. She jumped a bit in surprise but then came to her senses and answered the phone hesitantly, most of the calls House gets are abusive.

"Hello?"

A deep but confused voice came from the phone: "Dr House?"

"What? No, sorry this is Dr Cameron. Dr House is in the clinic right now."

"Excellent. Can you get him for me? It's Dr Burke. I'm sure he won't mind missing out on clinic duty but I need him for a consult."

A consult? Cameron lit up at the word. She realized it was incredibly insensitive to the patient but she had been waiting patiently for someone – anyone – to get sick. She realized then that House had actually gotten to her. "I'll get him now, one second Dr Burke" She pressed the hold button and went on the search for House.

000000000000000000000

Christina was leaning on her chair in the conference room.

"So you're getting a consult?"

Burke looked at her.

"You've got a problem with that?"

"No, nothings wrong with that. So, who's this Dr House anyway?"

Meredith looked up at Christina. "Seriously? You of all people should know House. The diagnostician at Princeton Plainsburough. Genius? Controversial?"

"Wait, you mean _the _Dr House. The one with the infarction?" Christina sat up in her chair.

"Wow, those medical journals really get into personal detail." Alex said with raised eyebrows.

"I've heard people talk about him." Christina said in a dismissive tone.

"He went to Johns Hopkins." Said Burke sitting down. "Was a couple of years ahead of me, but I knew him. By reputation mostly, but I've seen him a few times after graduation. Hopefully he can help us figure out what's wrong with Mr. Dunn."

"So, what has the jock done to the patient?" A deep gruff voice came from the loudspeaker on the table. "Forgotten where the brain is? It's under the arm-pit if you wanted to know."

"Dr House." Burke moved forward to the speaker, "Thanks for helping, its certainly been a while."

"Your welcome, it's great, now: what have we got here?"

Burke hinted at Meredith who cautiously approached the table. "34 year old male, post lobectomy, started seizing violently and then bled from the bowl."

There was a silence.

"Right. Ok..." House's voice crackled through the speaker "I thought you were going to give me something exciting. Exploding liver, low bp. But then again, you are a surgeon. I was probably an infection due to the surgery. Moves to the brain, causes seizures, moves to the abdomen, causes bleeding."

"No infection." Karev piped up.

"What?"

"We did the blood work, there's no infection."

There was another silence.

A different voice now came from the speaker, an Australian one: "Could be a clotting problem, post surgery the body was over stressed."

"Who's that?" Burke asked curiously.

"Do a blood clot test." Came House's voice once more.

"No can do, he's in surgery to fix up the bleeding."

"Well, that's _one _clot test. Ring back when he's out."

"He never went in." Bailey stood at the door.

"What?" Burke looked up at her.

"He never went in, he had a stroke just after he was prepped."

"A stoke? He's 34." A female voice came from the phone.

"He obviously has no problem clotting." Said House. "Burke, keep the patient stable and get us a whiteboard. We're coming to Seattle."

000000000000000000

NB: Ok, so its very medicine-filled. But that's what its like! Shall scatter some more Mer/Der, BANG and Izzie/Alex in there, and some House/Cameron I think. Teehee. Review to stop me from writing drivel.


	3. Chapter III

**A Rush Of Blood To The Head** – Chapter III

The interns were walking out of the conference room as Christina waited in her chair, finishing her coffee and watching Burke as he organised the patient's files. As everyone else had left, Burke headed out the door and Christina got up and quickly followed him.

"Burke!" He stopped and turned around to face Cristina. "Burke, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine, I've just got to finish some paper work. I'll see you at home ok?"

"Ok."

Burke walked down the hallway, hand in pocket while Christina watched helplessly. What was wrong with him?

0000000000000000

"Why are we going to Seattle?"

Cameron was following that waddling House as he left the office for home. She couldn't believe that House would travel half way across the continent to do something he could do on a phone.

"To meet the patient. That all important human connection. What's his name, Dunce? Doe?"

"Dunn" Cameron replied in a monotone voice.

"That's right!" House waddled over the elevator and pressed the button with his cane.

"But there is no reason for us to go."

"You don't want to go? I though you need the human connection with a patient. Or only the ones who are terminal? You're getting dehumanised. You didn't get interested in the case because of the patient, you wanted it for the sickness." House leaned towards Cameron so his face was in hers "You _need_ the puzzle."

There was a ding and the elevator doors opened. House walking in quickly but Cameron followed.

"I thought I had you convinced." said House with raised eyebrows.

"What are you trying to escape from?"

"I ratted out Cuddy to the police and I have to run away before her dyke catches me."

Cameron looked at House bluntly. The doors opened and he walked out into the foyer.

"You running away from clinic duty." said Cameron, hurrying after House.

"Really, I just thought it would be fun for a vacation. We could bunk together! Oh, that's right, the sexual tension thing." House moved towards the glass doors as Cameron stopped at the reception desk. House turned around to face her. "Just watch out for the stunned Wombat, he gets a bit rowdy after midnight."

"I know." said Cameron bluntly. House smiled and walked out the doors.

000000000000000000000

"Since when does Burke need a consult?"

Christina was sitting with the others at Joes, Beer in hand.

"He's a doctor. Doctors ask for consults." said Izzie bluntly, staring at the air in front of her. Christina looked at her.

"Yeah but since when does Burke ask for a consult?"

Alex looked down the neck of his beer. "You think he's going soft after being shot?"

Christina became uncomfortable. They cannot know. Not even Meredith can know about Burke. "No, it's just... It's now like him, that's all."

Alex became more interested in the conversation. "I'm amazed he can still perform surgery after being shot. I though he would have some pretty major hand function problems."

Christina knew it was time to change the conversation. "So what about this Dr House eh? The tortured genius!"

Meredith looked up from her tequila. "I seriously thought he would be your god or something."

"Why?"

"Well, the stories I've heard about him, he's worse than you. Proof that you don't need a good bedside manner to be a good doctor."

"Sounds like Alex's god." Izzie smirked.

"I think McSteamy's got that covered." said George, gulping down the last of his beer.

"He's not that great." Said Alex softly. Everyone stared at Alex in disbelief.

"Seriously? When he first came here you were practically grovelling at his feet" said Christina, now happy at the change of conversation.

"Yeah, you were like mini-McSteamy" George said.

Izzie piped up. "Mc-MiniSteam?"

"Mc Happy Meal Steamy with added stubble," said Meredith with her best advertising voice.

"Shut up guys. At least I'm not the one who hasn't told McDreamy that I dumped McVet."

Christina slammed down her glass. "You still haven't told him?"

"No I have, I have."

Everyone looked at Meredith intently.

"Well, what did he say?" jutted out Izzie.

"Ok."

"Well?" said Christina impatiently.

"Ok, he said 'ok' "

Christina looked let down. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Damn man, he's got it bad." Smirked Alex.

"Shut it McMini." Hitting down her shot glass, she asked for another from Joe. And another. What happened with Derek? He was so, so happy that whole day, but the moment she got herself worked up, he just dogged her. "Maybe it was just never meant to be..."

George put his hands down on the bar and turned to Meredith.

"Seriously? Seriously? You went out with McDreamy for two months and spent the next 10 pining for him. Do you know how much we've had to put up with you whining and moaning? You then had an affair with him, dumped the perfect McVet for him, and the moment you actually have him you question whether you should be with him. Seriously?"

"Ok, so maybe I should be with him. I just, what happened?"

Christina looked up from her drink. "Here's a radical thought: talk to him. Sounds crazy but apparently it works."

Meredith shot down the last of her tequila and got up from the stool. "Come on guys, time to get back. House tomorrow remember?" The interns lit up. Now this was going to be interesting.

000000000000000000

NB: Ok that last bit might have seemed like a bit of self promotion but it wasn't. Answers to questions: Burke did go to Johns Hopkins, as did House. Christina went to Stanford. And about Chase, don't worry I definitely haven't forgotten him - a pretty boy like him would be a nice match for Izzie... MUHAHAHA!!! Please review!


	4. Chapter IV

**Rush Of Blood To The Head­** – Chapter IV

Izzie was sitting down on the courtesy benches in the foyer of Seattle Grace. She had forgotten how physically straining surgery was. When you're in there, you don't feel anything, but the moment you get out you hit the brick wall. At least she was back. Denny would have wanted that. Tying up her long blond hair her eye caught a man standing at the reception desk. His black suit stood out among the sea of blue scrubs. He was youngish but had great hair. Curious, Izzie got up from the chair and walked over to the reception desk, tyring to be as casual as possible.

Chase was waiting for the nurse to get off the phone when he saw the blonde moving up to him. A very hot blonde, with scrubs. He cleared his throat and tried to look occupied.

"You looking for something?" Izzie asked as she put the folder she had used for a decoy back on the desk.

"Ah yes, sorry, do you know where I can find a Dr Burke?"

Izzie lit up "Are you Dr House?"

"Me?" Chase laughed "No, not at all. I work for House. Dr Chase." Chase put out his hand.

"Dr Stevens" They shook hands.

"You can call be Rob." Chase smiled with a sparkle in his eye.

"Ok, ah... call me Izzie." she blushed, "Um, I'm one of Burke's interns, I'll take you to him." Izzie walked down to the elevator and Chase followed, quickly checking his breathe, quickly putting his hand away as she turned back to him. "I thought House was going to come with a team or something. Where is everyone?" Izzie pushed the elevator button.

"I don't know. I thought they'd all be here already. I had some stuff to do at the hotel."

Izzie walked into the elevator as the doors opened. "Where're you from by the way? England?"

Chase walked in with her. "Australia."

"Oh. That is so cool."

Chase smiled as the doors closed.

0000000000000000000

"I'd figure House would be late but not Chase."

Cameron was sipping a tea in the conference room with Foreman and the interns. She had met Grey, O'Malley, Karev, Yang and Burke and had been waiting there for half an hour for Chase and House. House had even left the hotel with them, but was determined to travel there on his hire-out bike.

"You know Chase, he's got to get to a hundred brush strokes before he can go out in the morning." said Foreman, peering out the glass walls.

"Sounds like Sheppard." Alex smirked.

Cameron watched the interns as they all smiled. She looked at Burke who seemed impatient. "Sorry about this, he should be here."

"That's fine." Burke looked up at the door. "Ah! Stevens, come in" Izzie walked in to the room with Chase close behind. "Stevens this is Dr Cameron and Dr Foreman. And you are?"

"Oh, sorry: Dr Chase. House isn't here yet?"

Forman got up from his chair and moved to the whiteboard which George brought in earlier "Apparently not. Let's do this diagnosis shall we?" He picked up a marker "Before this patient dies."

Chase sat down next to Izzie. Smiling at her he did not see Alex glaring at him from the other side of the room.

"So, seizures, bleeding and stroke. Anyone?" Burke asked the group.

Foreman got excited with the marker in his hand. "Well, we've ruled out infection, and it's definitely not a blood clotting problem."

Meredith had an idea "What about..."

"Cancer" came a deep voice from the doorway. Everyone swinged round to see House, leaning on his can with his Nike sneakers and blue backpack slung on one shoulder. Burke stood up.

"Dr House, thankyou for..."

"Foreman, what did I say about markers?"

Foreman glared at House but put the marker down and moved to his seat. "It's not cancer. He had surgery remember?"

House threw his bag over to a spare seat and waddle to the whiteboard. "Yeah but there's al kinds of cancer, heart, skin, tongue, everywhere. It's like the worlds best striker except playing for the opposite team."

Cameron sunk in her chair. "I hate sports metaphors."

"There was no cancer in this abdominal films." George piped up.

"Well, that's _one _type of caner, name six others."

Foreman crossed his arms.

"It's not cancer House."

"Referred pain people!" House picked up the marker. Christina looked confused.

"But pain isn't a symptom."

"Yeah, but the things that cause pain are there. Cancer in the brain, body goes crazy, screws up your mind and your crap-factory. Foreman, get a lung-bar puncture."

Foreman got up and walked to the door.

"Karev, go with Dr Foreman" ordered Burke. Alex continued to look at Chase with Izzie. He couldn't leave her with him "Sir, I think I should just..."

"Did I ask you what you think? Go, now, LP."

Reluctantly Alex got up and trotted after Foreman. House looked at his watch and smiled. "Right, I'm off."

Christina looked surprised "Dr House?"

"What? It will take a while till we get the results back from the LP. Page me when they come." House picked up his bag and walked out of the room. Christina looked at Meredith. "That's the great House? Ha!"

"One second..." Cameron got up and followed House out of the room.

000000000000000000

"House!"

Cameron walked up to him practically skipping down the hallway. "House..."

"Do you want to have dinner tonight?"

Cameron stoped it her tracks. "I'm sorry, what?"

House stopped and turned around. "I know I've asked you before but, you know."

Cameron wondered if this was a joke like last time. She had no idea whether to take it seriously or not. "Ah, the patient.."

"What about him?"

"Nothing, it's just... seriously? I mean, the last time it was just a joke."

"No it wasn't."

Cameron skipped a beat. "It wasn't?"

"Are we doing a round? No, it wasn't. So, Dr Cameron: would you like to go to dinner with me?"

"I haven't packed, I mean..." Cameron didn't know what to say. House was actually asking her out. It was like the twilight zone or something. "Ah, I've got to go back, but I'll... see you later? Ok." Cameron turned back down the hall. House smiled softy.

"Take your time. Think about it."

Cameron felt her stomach tightened up as she headed back to the conference room. House asked her out. Holy shit.

00000000000000000

NB: Sorry for all those non House/Cameron shippers, but I couldn't help myself. And they'll be more stuff with Mer/Der and BANG coming up, this story will be going on for a while. But don't forget the patient though, he is dying and all. Reviews make me repost quicker – or make it less mediocre – so review!! ACHTUNG!!


	5. Chapter V

**Rush Of Blood To The Head** – Chapter V

Michael Dunn lay on his back and stared at the white roof. He lay there for what seemed like hours, alone and scared. He never hated hospitals, but now he did. He couldn't move from exhaustion, he had lost track of time since he stroked out. Two surgeries in one day, he thought, that isn't terribly good. Lying alone in the room his chest started to tighten, I'm gonna die. The thought ran through his head, his eyes starting to sting. No, he wasn't. He would be strong. Quivering, he slowly began to breathe slower, breathe deeper. I have to survive this.

"Mr Dunn..." The door opened, a man in a suit and another in scrubs walked in, both looking at charts in their hands. The suit man looked up. "I'm Dr Foreman, I've been assigned to your case. How you holding up?"

Michael almost laughed at him. "Alright, I'm just fine."

Foreman smiled. "Fantastic. Ah, this is Dr Karev, he will be assisting me today." Michael watched as the man in the corner smiled weakly. Forman moved to the chair and sat down next to Michael.

"So, what do you want to do with me?"

Foreman sighed. "Mr Dunn, we think you may have what we called referred pain."

"But I'm not feeling any pain."

Foreman looked at the ground. How was he going to explain this?

"No, but... you have other symptoms that point to it..." Foreman breathed out. "We think you have cancer."

Michael stopped short. "Cancer?" He looked at the other doctor in the corner. "You think I have cancer. You're not serious, right? I just got cancer. I quit smoking. I just had surgery!"

"Mr Dunn I'm sorry, but we're going to have to do a lung bar puncture, it will tell us if you have cancer or not..." Michael looked back at the ceiling, the wave of thoughts crushing down on him. "...there is a chance you may not have cancer. We're just covering all the bases. Mr Dunn?"

Michael looked back at Foreman. "This is simply a test. Nothing definitive."

"So you don't know what's wrong with me?"

Foreman sighed. "Not yet."

"Ok...let's do it."

0000000000000000000

Meredith walked into the elevator and pressed the button. Flicking through her files she waited at the elevator went down. There was a ding and she made way for all the people who were walking off. Out of the crowd stood Derek. Meredith caught her breath as he walked in a pressed the button. Meredith knew she had to take Christina's advice. The doors closed. They were alone.

"I'm going to lunch..."

"I'm sorry." Derek looked at her, his sad eyes full of regret.

"I'm sorry?"

Derek sighed, he had to say this. He had taken too long but it still had to be said. "I'm sorry I didn't pick you, I'm sorry I hurt you. Trust me, if I had the choice again..." Derek smiled to himself. Meredith stood there, transfixed to him.

"I'm sorry I called you a whore. Even though I didn't, but I'm sorry I implied it, I just... I was angry at myself, and I took it out on you. So I'm sorry Meredith, I'm sorry for everything."

Derek looked forward at the metal doors. "Addison... Before you told me, about Finn, Addison said something. She stayed with Mark, it wasn't a one night stand. They had a relationship and I picked her. If I had known I wouldn't have felt sorry, I wouldn't have chosen her, I wouldn't have second guessed. So I'm sorry. I would have said no." Derek looked at Meredith. "I would have chose you."

There was a ding. The doors opened. Meredith quickly turned her head and saw Addison standing there in front of them. All these thoughts and feelings came rushing to her, she was unable to act. Quickly she closed her files and walked out of the elevator, passing Addison without any recognition.

Derek would have chosen her.

0000000000000

NB: Ok, so the Mer/Der thing might be a bit dated, but I haven't seen the new ep though so cut me some slack. But I will soon... MUHAHAHA!! Ok, that done. For all those shippers who weren't provided new stuff for their... ship...(?) – hold on! This is divided into scenes so I can't have Burke fighting with Christina while Mer/Der make out, can I? Random point but I noticed that the majority of people view chapter one then it declines after that. Interesting. But now I'm boring you. You know the drill: To stop me from writing shite and boring you out of your scull, what do you do? That's right! REVIEW!!

Christ, I must sound like a broken record or something. Sorry, will shut up...now.


	6. Chapter VI

**A Rush Of Blood To The Head** – Chapter VI

Meredith breathed deep as she opened the doors to the outside cafeteria. Walking up to the counter she got her lunch. She couldn't stop thinking about what Derek said. Addison stayed with Mark - Ooo! Tuna salad! - Derek would have chosen her. Picking up her tray she moved without looking to one of the tables. Addison lied to him. That bitc...

"Woa!" Meredith nearly crashed into Cameron who was now balancing her own tray.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to. I wasn't looking. My fault."

Cameron stood her juice back up. "No that's fine, really. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Meredith smiled. "Mind on other things?"

"Tell me about it." Cameron had still not decided what to say to House. "Sorry, Dr Grey, right?"

"Yeah, but call me Meredith."

"Ok, Allison. Um, are you sitting somewhere?"

"Yeah, we've got a table, if you want to join us."

Cameron looked relieved. "That would be great."

Cameron followed Meredith as she made her way to the table, now occupied by George and Christina, both staring at something.

"Hey guys." Meredith sat down. Christina and George were still looking away. "Guys?"

"Eleven!" George shouted out triumphantly. Meredith looked round to see what he was talking about. Through the large windows she could see Izzie standing on the bridge with Chase, holding a coffee and laughing.

Christina scoffed "She's laughed _eleven_ times, that's ridiculous."

"He's not even that funny." Cameron smiled while shaking her juice.

Meredith looked back at Christina. "But come Christina, he's hot. I mean look at his hair!"

"McYeah he is. I'd hit that."

"I already have." Cameron smiled to herself.

Christina turned her glance from Chase. "Seriously? My respect for you has risen exponentially. Even though you work for that poser."

Cameron almost spat out her juice. "Sorry." she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Sorry, but that's just funny. I wouldn't say that. I mean, it doesn't matter if you say that to his face or not, but it makes you seem incredibly stupid. I'm embarrassed for you. Really."

Christina looked at Cameron. Suddenly Alex came up and slammed his tray down on the table.

"Dr Burke is a jackass."

Everyone looked as he sad down at the table. "Sorry Christina but he is. I spent the afternoon standing in the corner while another dude tests the patient. I could have done some kickass surgeries with Sloan but instead I'm stuck doing lab rounds. I swear I was better off with the gin patrol."

Everyone was silent as Alex ate his salad, hoping he would not turn around to see Izzie now getting up to her twenty-first giggle. Alex looked up.

"What?" He looked at the other, now nervous. "What guys?" He turned around and saw Izzie. Quickly he turned back to his lunch. "She's not my girlfriend." Meredith raised her eyebrows.

"Seriously, I don't care." Alex stoped eating and leaned back on his chair, trying to quench the fire inside him. Suddenly his pager went off and he held it up for all to see. "Lab rats! That's what I am." Alex stood up from his chair. "A freaking lab rat." Alex walked away and trashed his tray, punching open the glass doors.

"I'm guessing they're not going out." Christina smirked.

George's pager went off. "Bailey. She probably wants me to check in on the guy." George got up and left Christina, Cameron and Meredith. There was a long silence. All three had troubles of their own, and all three were so enveloped in these thoughts that they did not realise the need for conversation.

"McDreamy would have picked me." Blurted out Cameron.

"Burke's ignoring me."

"House asked me out." Before Cameron realised what she was saying Meredith and Christina looked at her, shocked.

"Wait, House, asked you out?" Christina blurted out.

Cameron sank in her chair. Why the hell did she say that? It just came out and my god did she wish she didn't say it.

Meredith knew the look and smiled. "My boss, Mr Sheppard: The first time I met him I was full of tequila. We had a one-night stand and it wasn't till the day after when I saw him at work did I realise that he was in fact my boss. Then there was that whole thing, the worst of it is: he was married and he didn't tell me. So his wife came all leggy and fabulous, begging him to go back to her – which he did – and then I lost my panties and now I realise that he would have picked me."

Christina laughed, "I started sleeping with Burke in the on-call room, I got pregnant with his baby and then he broke up with me because he thought it was 'the right thing to do'. A few weeks later I collapse in surgery and then have a surgery of my own, totally cutting off my fallopian tubes. And then he keyed me."

Cameron was comforted after hearing these tales of woe. "I'm in love with House. I think that trumps all of you."

Meredith remembered the stories of House as well as the experience today. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Christina sat up in her chair. "So did you say yes?"

"I haven't answered yet."

"Seriously? You're worse than Mer."

Meredith smirked at Christina. "She's right though, you should tell him before its too late. And my god does that seem to be the bane of my life."

Cameron laughed. "Taking advice from interns I had known only for an hour." But for some reason she trusted them. "Ok, I'll guess I'll tell him."

"That's right, take one for the team Allison!" Christina cheered. Suddenly all three beepers went off.

"Well, I guess that's the lab rat."

0000000000000000000

NB: Ok, I guess that was more of a transition scene but still good… I hope!!! Gotta stop being so self-conscious. Anywho! If you like it: REVIEW! If you think it is moderately ok: REVIEW! If you want something to happen (i.e. House dancing the cha cha): REVIEW! And if you absolutely hate it: REVIEW! – but then again, if you hated it then why on earth would you have read on to the sixth chapter? Interesting… I'm on to you!


	7. Chapter VII

**A Rush Of Blood To The Head** – Chapter VII

Cameron walked up to the lab with Meredith and Christina. Foreman was standing next to the printer waiting for the results, Alex was sitting on a chair, bored. Cameron opened the doors to the lab and walked in.

"What did you find?"

Foreman looked up. "Nothing yet, it's just calibrating."

Meredith looked at Alex, now fiddling with his buttons on his coat. "You right?"

"Fine."

The results started to print. Foreman picked up the paper and read it. "Negative."

"Page House." Cameron said as she was passed the paper.

"Already have. But it seems he doesn't have his pager."

"Seriously?"

Meredith was confused. "But he said..."

Cameron put down the paper. "Where the hell could he be?"

000000000000000

"House, what the hell are you doing?"

It was a sunny day in Seattle, but windy. Foreman, Cameron, Meredith and Christina walked up to the ferry wharf where House was sitting comfortably on the railings, cane resting against a seat, chips and tourist book in hand, the blue water lapping the pier.

"Did you know that an active geological fault runs right under Seattle? Fascinating!"

House stuffed more hot chips in his mouth and turned the page. Meredith looked around at all the people now staring at them. Hasn't anyone seen people in scrubs before?

"Oh my god House, you did come here for a holiday." Cameron realised.

Foreman had enough. "House, he doesn't have cancer."

House flicked over another page and looked up. "I've seen the Space needle, gone on a ferry boat, been to Starbucks, there's nothing much else to do..."

"Do you even care about wether the guy lives or dies?" Foreman asked.

"Course I do. CED-rate is normal..."

"His CED-rate is elevated."

"Is it? Man, when you think you know someone..."

Foreman was fed up. "House, go back to the hospital. Cure the guy."

House went back to his book. "No way! Haven't gone to the Henry Art Gallery yet. Or the Columbia Centre." House looked up to see all the annoyed faces. "Oh don't worry, he'll be alive when I get back."

Suddenly Meredith's pager went off. And Christina's, and Foreman's. Bailey had a problem.

000000000000000

Bailey rushed into the room. A nurse waited by Michael's bed.

"What happened?" Said Bailey, rushing to the bed.

"I don't know, he suddenly fell unconscious."

Bailey got her torch and opened up Michael's eyelids. Both pupils responded. "He's bleeding into his brain. Page Dr House his crew. And get him a CT. Page Dr O'Malley.

000000000000000

George spun round in his chair, waiting for the CT scan to come up. The assistant was getting annoyed.

"You right there?"

George stopped. "Yeah, I'm done." Embarrassed, he wheeled himself to the desk and waited. The images started to come up on the screen.

"What have we got?" House was at the door with Foreman and Cameron. George looked at the scans.

"Ah, pretty massive brain hemorrhage, left hemisphere."

House walked up to the desk and stared closely at the computer screen. "Oh yeah! Now _this_ is interesting. I've got chills! What do you think caused this eh?"

Cameron turned around. "He needs surgery. I'll page your resident Neuro-surgeon. Dr Sheppard, is it?"

House looked up from the scans. "Ah uh, I'll do that."

Cameron stopped and watched as House walked past with a smile on his face.

0000000000000000000

"DOCTOR MCDREAMY!!!!"

Derek was just about to walk into the elevator when he heard his nickname being shouted across the foyer. He looked around to see House leaning on his cane at the other side of the hall. Everyone was silent and looked at Derek.

"WE NEED YOU AND YOUR GORGEOUS WAYS!!!"

Derek blushed and looked down, quickly walking across to House as fast as he could.

"I take it you're Dr House?" Derek said as he passed him and pushed opened the doors to the hallway.

"Corectomundo!"

"Couldn't you have just paged me?"

"We're worrying about low powered device radiation today."

"So what's wrong?"

"Guy in room 401, bleeding into his brain. We need you to patch him up again."

"Burke's patient?"

"Yup."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Currently, no idea. But we have ruled out cancer. That just leaves a couple more thousand possibilities to go." Derek stopped at the surgical room door and looked at House. "Don't worry, I'm not a surgeon. I can figure it out."

Derek rolled his eyes and went to scrub in.

0000000000000000

NB: Ah, yeah. So that's that. Hope you're enjoying it. If not, tell me! I'm all ears! – for now... Anywho, if you can put two sentences together then you can review, so... review! I'd do the same for you... seriously!


	8. Chapter VIII

**A Rush Of Blood To The Head** – Chapter VIII

Chase was sitting in the cafeteria alone, wondering where Cameron and Foreman had got to. He hadn't seen them for hours since Foreman went off to do the LP. But then again, he found better things to do during then. Sipping his third cup of coffee he looked up to see Izzie walking past in the corridor. Quickly he got up and walked to the doors, ready to surprise her. She got paged before, when he was about to ask her a question. Opening the glass doors, he looked as Izzie was walking down the hallway, flicking through a file. Suddenly she crashed into Chase.

"Sorry. Oh, hi!" She lit up.

"Hey, um, I forgot to ask you before but, I was just wondering if you wanted to have a drink later or something?"

Izzie froze. "My fiancé died a month ago and I cut his LVAD wire." she blurted out quickly, unaware of what she was doing. Chase smiled.

"My dad died a while ago of cancer and I didn't even know he was sick."

"Oh..." Izzie looked confused, but then smiled. "So, ah..."

"I'll meet you here at seven?"

"Yeah, sure. We can go to Joe's. Um, see you."

"Bye." Chase smiled as he watched Izzie walk down the hallway once more.

He's still got it.

000000000000000000

Cameron walked into the conference room. House was sitting down, twirling his cane, staring at the white board. Cameron stopped in her tracks. "House..."

House looked up. "It's great that you dogged me. Makes me feel all nice and secure inside."

"I didn't, it's just that the patient was sick..."

"The patient's always sick."

"Right... so what do I wear?"

House caught his breath. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

He started to twirl his cane once more and looked at the board. "Why do you always ask what to wear? Every time: 'what do I wear?' What, do think I'm some sort of _fashion guru_?"

Cameron smiled and sat down. "No, it's just nice to dress appropriately. You don't get it, all you wear is a suit."  
House looked at Cameron and smiled lightly. "I'll pick you up at eight."

"But we're staying at the same hotel."

"Are you suggesting you come over to my room? Bit early on, don't you think?"

Cameron smiled as Foreman, Chase, Bailey and the interns came into the room.

"Sheppard stopped the bleeding." Foreman threw the file onto the desk.

House got up and walked to the board. "Good, now he can return to all his extra curricular activities." He said with a wink to Meredith. She blushed and looked away.

"So," House said, picking up the marker. "What have we got here. Seizures, stroke and internal bleeding. What makes you bleed in the abdomen _and _the brain? Any suggestions?"

"Could be trauma." George said.

House turned to face him. "Unless someone has been coming in with a bat and systematically beating him to a pulp, trauma ain't it."

"What about Naphthalene poisoning?"

House looked at Chase. "Lightning never strikes twice."

Chase continued. "He got all his symptoms after his first surgery. For six hours he sat on the table, burning his fat which was filled with Naphthalene. Gets off the anaesthesia and has a seizure."

"You really should get into the song writing business." House jutted out.

Foreman got up from his chair. "It can't be Naphthalene, he hasn't had any hallucinations, and his liver is fine."

"For now. The symptoms develop over time, if I'm right he'll be having hallucinations in a couple of hours and his liver with shut down after that." Chase looked at House. "We should get him on the transplant list."

Foreman couldn't believe it. "Get him on the transplant list with absolutely no proof that he even _has _a problem? It could be a thousand other things..."

"Well, only one way to prove him wrong Foreman," House put down the marker. "Break into his house."

Alex's jaw dropped. "You're going to _break_ into his house?"

House picked up his cane and walked to his seat. "Don't worry, he does it all the time. Don't you Homey-G?"

Foreman glared at House. "How am I going to check for termites without destroying the guy's property?"

"Well, start by tapping wood. It should be weak. Termites eat wood, you know?"

Foreman reluctantly picked up his bag and walked out the door.

"Woa, hold on." House stopped him. "You can't go by yourself. Show the jaw-dropper how it's done and take the high pinched blonde for leverage."

Meredith glared at the smiling House and got up with Alex to follow Foreman. Great, she thought; four years of high school, three years of under-grad, four years of med school, one year of internship and what is she doing? Breaking and entering.

000000000000000000

NB: Ok, these last two ones have been short but the next one is gonna be the longest out of all of them: think Foreman breaking into houses, Chase/Izzie at Joe's, BANG at home and House/Cameron...well, you can wait. And sorry for all you people who don't support House/Cameron. It's just my thing. Don't worry, you can block it out if you want to and think of House/Cuddy – shudder - FREAKS!!! Oh, and REVIEW!! please?


	9. Chapter IX Oo! Roman numerals!

**A Rush Of Blood To The Head** – Chapter IX

"Do you do this a lot?"

Alex leaned up against the wall of a small house. It was night time. Meredith was standing on the small path leading up to the house, glancing nervously from side to side, looking for anyone who may be watching. Foreman took out his credit card from his wallet and went to the door. "You won't believe how many times I've done this. I've actually considered a life of crime, but there would be no point in having a medical degree. Or even a high school diploma."

Foreman started trying to open the lock. Meredith moved from her place on look out to under the porch where Alex sitting down on a seat, huddling in the cold. Meredith sat down next to him. "Are you ok?"

Alex blew on his hands. "Yeah I'm fine. Seriously." He looked up at Foreman who was still having trouble with the lock. "Dude, you right there?"

Foreman put down his credit card. "Yeah, it just takes a while. Hey, you don't have a hair-pin I could use?"

Meredith took out a hair-pin and gave it to Foreman. Leaning back into the seat she sighed. "You know, you can tell me what's up."

"What, between the messed up scary and damaged people?" Alex scoffed.

"Yeah." She said sincerely.

Alex looked down at his feet and then up again. "A month ago she was swooning over a living corpse who was too weak to wipe his own ass. Now she's got that Australian guy…" Foreman smiled to himself quietly "…and I can't stop thinking about her. She's not my girlfriend. I know that. But I hate it."

Meredith looked at him sadly and laid her hand on his back. Foreman opened the door. "Ok! Come on, before the neighbours called the police."

Alex got up and walked in the house. "Has that ever happened before?"

Foreman had already started to tap the walls. "A couple of times. Meredith, go and check for chemicals, anything that might hint to a termite problem. Alex, check out for drugs, he might be overdosing on rat poison for all we know. And I'll just, knock on wood."

Meredith started looking through the kitchen cabinet under the sink. "She's just trying to get over Denny," she yelled out from the cabinet. "Looking for a quick fix. Trust me, I know the feeling. Who keeps an old shoe under the sink?"

Alex was looking through the bathroom. "She's not like you. Anyway, if she wants a quick fix it's almost always me." Alex thought of the time with the bomb.

Meredith was still looking through the copious amounts of chemicals under the sink. "Well, if the sprays are anything to judge with, this guys got every single insect imaginable living in this house." She stood up. "Maybe she doesn't think of you that way any more. You were practically a knight in shining armour at the prom."

Alex got up from the toilet and looked at Meredith through the doors. "It's not like that. And it's fine, you know. I want her to be over me. I want _me _to be over her. But I just can't. _That's_ what pisses me off."

Foreman was still tapping on the walls. "Sounds like someone I know." He jutted in, thinking of Cameron. He stood up from listening to the wall. "Ok, does anyone know how to listen to termites? This is ridiculous, it's not even naphthalene poisoning. House just wants to piss me off."

Meredith walked up to him in the hallway, chemical bottles in hand. "Sounds like he does that a lot. So, it's either ant poisoning or cockroach infection 'cos it ain't termites. Not a single deterrent for them in this house."

Alex came in and leaned on the door frame. "Well, it isn't drugs. The dude's got serious load of nicotine gum but diarrhoea's not one of his symptoms."

Foreman sighed. "Well, that was a complete waste of time, come on, we may as well go home."

Suddenly all three pagers went off.

000000000000000000

Chase walked up to the bar.

"Could I have a glass of dry white wine and a schooner of your best beer thanks."

Joe looked up at the new customer. "Schooner?"

Chase realised what he said. "I mean pint, the big one. Sorry, mental blank."

Joe started to pour the wine. "Don't worry 'bout it." He looked over the counter to see Izzie sitting at a table on the other side of the room. "You with Izzie?"

Chase looked up from the peanut he was cracking. "Ah, yeah. Why?"

Joe put the two drinks down on the bar. "Just look out for her."

Chase put down a his money, picked up the drinks and walked to Izzie. "Your dry white wine, Madame."

Izzie reached out for her drink. "Why thank you!" Izzie took a sip of her drink and smiled at Chase who was now sitting down next to her. "So tell me, what makes a hot Australian leave his down under."

Chase smiled. "So you think I'm hot?"

"Does it matter what I think?"

"Aw, yeah. I reckon it does."

Izzie smiled. "No seriously. What are you doing here working for House?"

Chase looked down at his beer. "You don't want to know..."

"I do!"

"It's far too early in the night for this. Wait till I'm in the mood for scotch."

Izzie put her drink down and moved her hand onto Chase's. "You can tell me."

"My mum drank. A lot. My dad, he was a famous doctor. He wrote... a text book. But he left. And then when my mum died I couldn't stay in Australia. I just had to get out. Which I did. But then my dad came to see me, he didn't tell me he had cancer. And now he's dead too." Chase took a slug of his beer and then tried to smile. "What kind of date is this? Me telling you about my completely screwed up life."

Izzie smiled warmly. "I don't know. But it's nice. To listen to you. To know I'm not the only one."

Chase looked up at her quizzically. "A tad sadistic don't you think?"

Izzie laughed into her wine. "Yeah, maybe it is. But it's been nice. Hanging out with you today."

"But it probably will end soon. House'll figure out what's wrong with the guy and I'll head back to Princeton-Plainsburough."

Izzie looked at Chase. "Yeah... let's not think about that just yet." They smiled at each other.

Suddenly a beeping noise emulated from their bags. Someone was paging them.

00000000000000000

Cameron waited outside at the main entrance of the hotel. Hands in her jacket pockets, she wondered how long House was going to take. He said he'd meet her out here at eight. It was ten past eight and there was still no sight of him. Maybe he _was_ joking. His way of seeing if she was over him. She looked back to the elevators inside the foyer, waiting for one of them to open and reveal House. Suddenly there was a low grumbling behind her. She turned around to see what it was. There was House, sitting on his hired-out motorbike in the middle of the valet entrance road. "House..." Cameron sighed.

Walking up to the bike House threw Cameron a helmet. "Jump on!"

Cameron stood there with the helmet. "No way. The last time I rode with you I thought I should start writing my will early."  
House revved up the bike. "Aw, come on, I know you want to! Or are you dogging me again?"

Cameron glared jokingly at House and put the helmet on. House revved up his bike once more as Cameron jumped on behind him and put her arms around him. Smiling, House took off out of the drive through area and down the road.

After an exhilarating ride, House turned off one of the main roads and went down a winding track through the trees. Cameron looked through the forest, wondering how a city like Seattle could be so close to the bush. "House, where are we going?" Cameron yelled over the engine.

House smiled. "Now if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?"

Cameron's stomach started to tighten as she bit her lip and smiled. After a while, they came to a clearing. House went off the road and rode over some of the grass slowly, moving away from the road. Coming to the sight of the lake House stopped and turned off the motor. Cameron got off the bike and walked down to the water, looking to the side where she could see the Seattle sky-line emerge from the trees. "It's beautiful." Cameron blurted out.

House looked up from the bike. "Yeah, I've seen better. Here." House chucked Cameron a small plastic container. In it was a small pile of pancakes.

"You have Wilson's pancakes?"

House picked up his cane and moved down to the water. "He's very good." House smiled. "Should have told him to come. He would have loved this here."

Cameron smiled. "Sometimes I swear you two are married. If you weren't straight I'd swear you'd make the perfect couple."

House moved to the big rock which protruded out of the grassy knoll. "Who say's I'm straight?" House sat down. "Don't worry, you have no competition."

Cameron was taken aback. What did House say? "Competition?"

House had opened up Wilson's pecan salad and was already eating it. Cameron moved to the rock and sat down. House looked up and grabbed the pancakes off her. "Hey!" She smiled.

Suddenly Cameron's pager went off. House stopped smiling.

0000000000000000

Christina opened the apartment door and threw her bag to the wall. Closing the door she looked up at Burke, now lying on the coach with his eyes closed, listening to Miles Davis. Christina walked to the kitchen and got herself a beer. Opening it she took a swig and looked at Burke again. His eyes were still closed. Christina looked in the fridge for food. "Hey, did you make dinner?" Burke didn't answer. Christina looked up from the fridge. "Burke?" Still no answer. She put down her beer on the mantle, went up to the record player and turned it off.

Burke opened his eyes. "Hey, I was listening to that."

"Yeah, well, I was asking you a question. Did you make dinner?"

"No, I bought dinner. And I had it. Now can you put the record on?"

Christina looked dumbfounded. "No. I will not put it back on, until you tell me what's been going on lately."

Burke shut his eyes and then got up. "I'm going to go to bed..."

"No. Burke, what's wrong. First you don't want to go back to surgery, now you're getting consults..."

"He's very good."

"I'm sure he is. But you're ignoring me."

"I'm not."

"You are!" Christina sighed. "I wake up in the morning and I don't get a good bye, I see you at work and you don't say hello, and then I come home and you just listen to your records and ignore everything I say. All the time! What do I have to do?"

"You think I want to be like this?" Burke started to breathe deeply. "I got shot! I have lost 80 of my hand function and I'm still not improving. Surgery is my life. Without it, I have nothing. You don't understand that, you pretend it's alright but its not. I am not fine!"

"But I'm trying to help! You think I'm doing all this for me?" Christina looked disgusted. "I _hate_ doing this. I live under the fear each day that someone will discover what we're doing, and when they do... well, who knows what will happen? I they find out _I_ will lose _my_ job. _My_ life. You think I'm doing this for me? I hate this! But it helps you, and that's all that matters. But you go on and on about how you don't want to do this and how I'm forcing you into things but I'm not! I want you to be happy! And I'm trying my hardest but that doesn't seem to be enough for you? Because you're asking for consults, and you're listening to jazz. But I love you. What the hell is the matter with you that you won't just let me?"

Burke was taken aback. There was a silence. "You've never said that to me... before."

Christina walked to the bedroom and opened the door. "Yeah, well, deal with it." She slammed the door.

Burke stood there in the silence. He smiled. So she did love him.

Suddenly a harsh noise broke the silence. Their pagers were beeping.

000000000000

NB: Wow! They're all so popular! (with the pagers, and all...) ok, so that was my attempt at a long chapter. I think I may have succeeded. I'll just finish with some notes: To the person who complemented my spelling: why thank you, trust me, you are the first person to ever complement my spelling. EVER. But I guess that's all the notes I have to say. Hmm, was thinking I had more. Oh well, what a sad life I live. But you know what would make it less sad? That's right: REVIEWS!!!! There is a amazing difference between the number of people who read this to the number of people who review, so to all those bludgers out there: I'm on to you! That's right! You there, sitting on the computer, procrastinating and waiting for thus day (or Tuesday) to come. If you want something... blah. Oh stuff it just review! Please! Feel good and make someone happy.

Ok, I've seriously got to shut up now. I'll stop talking, but a long story needs a long NB! I think. Right, I'll stop.


	10. Chapter X

**A Rush Of Blood To The Head** – Chapter X

Meredith had hurriedly put on her white coat and clipped her pager on when there was a ding and the elevator doors opened. Derek stood inside, hand in his coat pockets. Meredith smiled wryly and walked in and pressed a button on the side. The doors closed. Derek smiled slyly and looked at Meredith. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh, just breaking into a patient's house. You?"

"Craniotomy." Derek looked Meredith up and down, smiling. "Hey you know what I miss?" Meredith looked at Derek. "Kissing in the elevator. I used to love kissing in the elevator." Meredith looked away, smiling. "Whatever happened to kissing in the elevator?"

"Addison."

Derek looked away. "Ah... But I miss kissing in the elevator. We used to do it all the time."

"We've only kissed in the elevator once."

"All the more reason to do it again!" Derek came closer to Meredith.

Meredith began to falter. "We're going slow... remember? You're having...space."

Derek moved closer to her, his hands clasped behind him, leaning into her so close, all she could see were his deep blue eyes. "I am?" He murmured.

Meredith swallowed and tried to keep her composure. "You..."

There was a ding. Quickly Meredith broke away from Derek, who was still smiling cheekily. The doors opened to reveal people waiting for the elevator. Some moved in between Meredith and Derek.

"Should we take the stairs? Or maybe the pre-op room?" Derek smiled.

"I have to go back to the conference room."

"What's wrong with your guy now?"

"I got a page from Bailey. Apparently he's just had a renal failure."

Derek looked stunned. "Renal failure? How does that work?"

"I don't know." The doors opened, Meredith walked out of the elevator. "That's what I'm going to find out. Nice to speak with you Dr Sheppard."

Derek moved his head so he could call out through the now closing elevator doors. "I'll meet you in the stair-well in five!"

Meredith smiled to herself and turned to the conference room.

00000000000000000

"We're missing something."

House was leaning on his cane next to the whiteboard, fist up to his lips. The interns and his ducklings had been sitting in the conference room for an hour, drilling out possible causes. When House heard about the renal failure he was stumped. Three seemingly unconnected symptoms and not one clue what it was.

Foreman rubbed his face with his hands and sat back in his seat. "His blood work was negative, no infection. Tox screen was negative, Bone marrow test was negative, Lumbar puncture was negative, CT was negative, everything is negative. Is that a clue?"

"What about a rhino-virus." Alex blurted out, no idea what else say.

House stoped and looked at him. "I'm not even going to acknowledge that with a brilliant quip."

"ALS?" Cameron sighed.

"Wouldn't have caused the brain haemorrhage." House looked at the whiteboard again and got up from leaning on his cane. "What causes your brain to bleed?"

Chase too had run out of ideas. "TTP?"

"Well, seeing how the patient's neither a girl, nor 11 years old, I'm going to ignore that injection."

Christina looked up from the text books she had been avidly flipping through. "We've tried everything."

House looked back to the whiteboard. "What if the scaring on the chest films wasn't from the surgery."

Meredith looked up from her coffee. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if it was a symptom? What if his renal failure was there before? During the surgery, the kidneys shut down, but it wasn't noticed. The toxins moved into the abdomen and caused the bleeding. But how does that connect to the brain? It doesn't fit."

George looked at the chart again. "There was some scaring around his heart."

"I said the brain, not the heart. You obviously get confused about which one to listen to." House started pacing. "All these things, there trying to tell us something. But what?" House stopped at the board again. "It's like the boy who cried wolf. All these symptoms; the renal failure, the seizures, the scaring: they're all unimportant. The body screams them out to call attention to it. And we get interested. But then the tests come out negative. They don't make sense, and we try and figure out what it means when there is no point. Because the boy has seen the wolf, but we are ignoring because of all these other symptoms. That's what we need to focus on: the wolf. The blood in the head is the wol..." House suddenly stopped. "How's the calcium in his T-Cells?"

George quickly flicked through the file. "Ah, increased. Why?"

House stood there next to the board, in deep thought. Suddenly he turned around and sprang out the door. Chase jolted up and followed him as quickly as he could, all the others, before the realised what was happening, followed Chase. What was House doing?

000000000000

Amazed at how fast the cripple could move, Meredith pulled up to the lab with everyone else, looking through the glass walls to House, now enveloped in his activity. Pulling out the bone marrow sample from the fridge he put it in a test tube and added some chemicals to it. Shaking it lightly he put it in the processor. As it began to spun, House moved to the computer and turned it on, still oblivious to the group starting at him through the glass. After a while, the machine stopped. House clicked on to the results and held his breathe. Meredith watched as his face suddenly became grave. Getting up from the computer he walked over to the door and opened it, walking past Meredith and the others.

"It's Lupus." He said deeply as he passed the others and walked down the hallway.

Everyone's heart sank. Foreman sighed. How was he going to explain this?

00000000000

NB: Ok, one of my main aims in the story was for someone to actually have Lupus. And I did! Go me! Included some Mer/Der (in case you hadn't noticed...) which I was always going to do but you just have to give it time, things will happen over time. Time time time. Ok, shutting up. Anywho, you know the drill: If you hate, love, like, are impartial to, have some mistakes to fix up in this story then REVIEW!! Thanks mate!


	11. Chapter XI

**A Rush Of Blood To The Head – Chapter XI (hehe, sorry bout lateness :P)**

Meredith had followed House as he passed them in the hallway. No one else had moved. No one else wanted to move. For some reason, they all knew that House was going to talk to the patient. Meredith became curious and followed him while everyone else stood lifeless next to the lab room. House was nearly at the door of the patient's room when he stoped and turned around.

"Is there a reason why you're following me or do you just like playing tag?"

Meredith froze. "I just thought… I was his surgeon originally so, I don't know. It might be better, for him, to have a familiar face there."

House rolled his eyes and opened the door. "Not sadistic at all!"

Meredith followed as House walked into the patient's room and came to the side of Mr Dunn's bed. He was sleeping. Meredith sighed, she knew that she had to wake this guy up from his solace and tell him he has an incurable disease. Life sucks. As she stood there looking over the patient, House raised his cane and started to poke him. Mr Dunn groaned, yet whether it was from waking up or from the pain he must feel, Meredith could not tell.

"Morning!" House chirped happily.

Mr Dunn opened his eyes and raised himself up from the bed, confused. "Who are you?"

"I'm Dr House. But I guess you can call me _Lath spell_" House smiled at his own pun while the other two stared at him confused.

Dunn looked at Meredith. "So what have I got?"

House stopped smiling and turned his head down, now frowning. Meredith did not want to say it, but she knew she had to. "You have Lupus," she sighed

Dunn raised his eyebrows. "Lupus?" He looked at House "What's that?"

"It's an autoimmune disease which kind of makes your body allergic to itself."

Dunn stopped short. "Seriously? It's curable right?"

House looked at Meredith for an answer. "It is treatable."

Dunn lay back on his bed, staring up into the white void of the ceiling once more. He heard House's voice speaking, but it was dull, distant.

"We need to put you on steroids and immunosuppressants. You will have to take them on a regular basis. Don't worry; you can still live a regularly normal life. Just look at Michael Jackson." Meredith shot a sharp look at House, who immediately stopped talking.

Meredith moved closer to the bed and took Mr Dunn's hand. "It's ok. House has found the disease in time. There is minimal damage."

"What, besides the stroke, renal failure and brain haemorrhage?" Dunn drew a quick breath to stop the tears now stinging his eyes. "Just give me the drugs so I can get out of here."

Meredith looked down and let go of his hand. "I'll page the nurse."

House looked at Meredith with the patient and walked out of the room. Meredith followed.

Standing at the nurse's station, Meredith watched as House walked down the hallway to the lab. No one was there. Looking in the adjacent rooms, House moved back up the hallway while peering into the doors he passed. Meredith started to fill out the file for Mr Dunn as House came up the nurse's station and dropped his cane on the counter. "Have you seen a Dr Cameron around?"

The nurse looked up from the computer, eyes up over the glasses that rested on her nose. "She left just then with all the other doctors."

"What do you mean _left_?"

"Well, it is 9 o'clock. Unlike nurses, doctors have the privilege to sleep at night."

"Yes, but unlike doctors, nurses have the privilege to whine about how they are so _undervalued_ all the time."

The nurse scowled at House then got up and left with some files. House turned around and leaned against the counter, arms crossed.

Meredith looked up from the file. "Do you like Dr Cameron?"

House looked shocked and stared at Meredith in disbelief. "What?"

Meredith realised what she just said and cringed. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean… I just, when we got paged it's just somebody mentioned you were with Allison, and we were talking at lunch and then… sorry. Forget I asked…. But, do you?"

House rubbed his temples with his hand and sighed annoyingly. "Christ, are we in a hospital or a soap-opera here?"

"I mean, I have no reason to ask, except that I'm kind of now friends with Allison and all…"

House picked up his cane. "You're worse than Wilson."

House was about to walk away when Meredith's pager began to beep. Quickly she took it off and looked at the small screen. House watched as her face suddenly became grave. "Oh shi…"

0000000000000000

The door in room 401 crashed open as Meredith hurried to the bed of Mr Dunn. Amongst the crowd of bustling nurses she could see the patient one the bed, squirming and gasping for air. One of the nurses was trying to cover his mouth with the oxygen mask but he was moving too much. Meredith ran to his bed and took the mask off the nurse and tried herself. Dunn was still gasping violently, his oesophagus swelling up. "We need to intubate." She handed the mask to the nurse as she moved to the head of the bed. "Push another CC of steroids." The nurse rushed to the cabinets and hurriedly tried to find the syringe. Quickly she grabbed the steroids and rushed to the bed where Meredith was desperately trying to intubate the suffocating patient.

"Stop." House stood at the door. "What are you doing?"

Meredith looked up. "His Lupus is progressing, I'm increasing the treatment."

House remained stoic amongst the chaos in the room. "No it isn't. This isn't the Lupus. It's an allergic reaction."

Meredith rolled her eyes and continued to intubate, now getting through to the oesophagus and grabbing a clear tube. "Well, that is the definition of Lupus. Push those steroids." The nurse stood by, about to inject the steroids. House raised his voice. "The patient is allergic to the treatment!"

Meredith looked up, shocked. "What?"

"This Lupus would not cause raspatory distress such as this. Take him off the treatment. It's going to kill the guy." House walked out of the room, leaving Meredith standing there, squeezing the ambo-bag. Dammit.

000000000000000

NB: Sorry guys, it's been a f!ck long time since I last posted a new chapter so sorry. Just had a lot of things to do recently so yeah, will promise to keep posting regularly, even though you have probably given up on me. But, am curious. Only got a couple of more chapters to go on this story and am curious, do you guys want me to continue? Or shall I just leave the story as it is? I will keep posting regularly from now on so don't worry about huge freaking long gaps between chapters. But yeah, review and tell me what you want me to do. Maybe I'll be able to smuggle Wilson in. But, you guys know the drill: REVIEW!! And make one little Aussie _very _happy!


	12. Chapter XII

**A Rush A Rush Of Blood To The Head – Chapter XII**

Meredith walked exhausted down the empty hallway. She ran to the bathroom after House had left and splashed her face with the cool water from the bathrooms. The hospital felt eerie. She had never felt like that in the hospital, never. But for some reason it seemed completely empty; Christina, Derek, George – none of them were there to comfort her. Listening to the cold tapping of her shoes on the lino floor as they echoed down the hallway, she came back to room 401. She stopped.

The treatment was killing him. The disease is killing him. She'd had to deal with something like this before but never on this scale. If she went in that room, she will be responsible. But he's her patient. Meredith sighed and pushed open the door.

House was there. Standing alone in the dark room, his face was staring intently at the patient, leaning still on his cane. All that could be heard were the slow, queasy breaths of Michael Dunn as he slept exhausted, now connected to a respirator. Meredith moved forward into the room and let the door close behind her.

House looked up at her and then picked up his cane. Limping slightly to the side of the patient's bed he lifted his cane up in the air and let it fall on the handlebars on the bed with clang. Michael jolted awake and had a moment of terror in his eyes when he realised he had a huge tube strapped to his mouth.

"Don't speak." House said quickly as Michael tried to open his mouth. Slowly his hand came up to his face. "And don't try and take the tube out of your mouth. Otherwise your oesophageus will collapse and then that whole, thing will start al over again."

There was a silence. Michael let his hand drop to his side. Meredith moved closer to his bed and looked up at House.

"You're allergic to the treatment." House said bluntly. Michael raised his eyebrows and stared at House, his eyes overflowing with terror, unable to move. Meredith listened as the echoing breaths became shorter and shorter. House continued: "We have to take you off the treatment or you will die. But, with your advanced case of Lupus, if we take you off the treatment, your symptoms will become worse, you will develop even more symptoms, and you will die."

Michael quickly shot his eyes over to Meredith, pleading for a rebuttal. "Mr Dunn, I am so, so sorry." Michael didn't react. Slowly he started to make choking noises, the even beeping of the stat monitor became quicker.

"Wha..do I do?" Michael choked, straining against the thick plastic tube, which was intruding in his oesophagus. Meredith looked away. House stayed looking straight into his eyes, unmoved.

"You either die a slow, painful death from the lupus, or a painful death from the treatment."

"Or…" Michael spluttered.

" 'Or' has nothing to do with me. I have found out what's wrong with you. I cannot decide how you will kick it."

Meredith slowly looked up at Michael, now lying flat on his bed, staring once again at the ceiling. House tapped his cane on the floor and straightened up. "I guess this is a cue for my exit." He turned and walked to the door and opened it up. "Tell Dr Grey when you've made a decision."

0000000000000000000

"What do we do?"

House turned around from walking down the empty corridor to see Meredith standing there alone.

"I'm sorry?"

"He's going to die."

"Really? I just he had a crush on Dr Burke! The heart scaring, the lung problems. I mean how desperate can he be!" House began to walk back down the hallway. Meredith quickly followed after him.

"He is going to die no matter what we do."

"Facts of life. Get used to it." House moved over to the stairway doors and pushed them open.

"I think he wants us to kill him."

"Oh would you stop!" House turned round to face Meredith. The stairwell was dark and empty. Meredith stopped short. "What makes you think I care about the guy? I figured out what's wrong. That's my job. Not curing people, not stitching them back up, but finding out what the hell is wrong with them in the first place! What ever happens after that is **not my deal!**"

"But he's dying! He's going to die a slow, horrible death unless we give him the treatment."

"Why the hell do you want to give him the steroids? He's dead anyway! What, you want to treat his Lupus for the afterlife?"

"No, it's just… If we don't give him the treatment then he'll just be terminal. We can't just do that, there has to be something we can do."

"Let me give you a hint, it stars with an 'E' "

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm a doctor, I can't kill a patient."

"Oh, would you make up your mind! Each way, you are killing a patient. The only difference that matters to _you_ is whether your conscience remains clear. If you let him die from the Lupus, sure he went through a hell of a lot of pain, but _you_ didn't feel any of it, and in the long run, he died naturally, which is just so much better. But if you do kill him, if you do inject the huge shot of morphine, even though you might have done what the patient wanted, you still killed a man. And you will have to live with that for the rest of your life. It's not about him, it's not about the excruciating pain he will feel. It's about _you_, and whether you will get a good night's sleep."

House started to move past Meredith and headed to the door when she blurted out "What would you do?"

House stopped. "I've already…"

"I know what you just said, but you chose to break the news to this guy for a reason. Burke and Foreman were his main doctors. They had an obligation to the patient to tell them what was wrong. But you did it instead. You care about this case, even when you solved the puzzle. What would you do?"

House looked up from the door. "No one should live through that much pain."

00000000000000000000

Meredith glanced out into the hallway then closed the door again to room 401.

"No one's there." She walked over to House, now standing next to Michael's bed, syringe in hand. "Michael," Meredith walked over to the bed and clasped her hand in his. "We're going to give you a shot of morphine. It will put you asleep. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

Michael slowly nodded his head, then winced in pain. His eyes were red with pain and tears as the anaesthesia wore off.

House remained still. "You won't feel any pain. Not any more."

Slowly House took off the plastic covering of the needle and moved closer to Michael's bed. Hesitating for a second, Michael's eyes coaxed him on.

"I'll need you to turn over." House moved his other hand to Michael's side as he turned to his side on the bed and faced Meredith, now close to him, grasping both hands. House lifted up the syringe of morphine to Michaels back and felt between the vertebrae of his spine. Finding the correct space, House slowly brought the needle to the skin. Letting out a silent sigh, he punctured the skin and quickly injected all the morphine. After it was empty, House swiftly drew the needle out and threw it on a tray. Meredith stayed holding onto Michael's hands as he remained lying on his side.

Looking into his eyes, she saw them falter, then close. Around her she could hear the monitor beeping quicker and quicker. Suddenly it stopped, the room was filled with the pericing screech of the monitor.

0000000000000000

NB: 'K well that was a depressing chapter! Yes. Right, sorry for all those who want more Mer/Der, House/Cam, BANG, Addick, Azzie, George/Crazy Syph Nurse or whatever, I don't know. You've been stuck with my fav characters House and Meredith for these dark and twisty chapters, but shall lighten up. Or at least will broaden for more characters. Anywho, am rambling. Only four days since I last posted. That's pretty good considering my last time. Still need comments on whether to stop at this cross-over story or to do another one after it. Like a sequel! But not in the crappy Star Wars sense of the word. Again, am rambling. What do you do to stop me from rambling? REVIEW!!!

Update: Ok, sorry bout this but Fanfiction have been a bastard cause I haven't been able to upload any new documents. Guess it's taking longer to upload than I thought. Gonna write the next chapter now. 


	13. Chapter XIII the final chapter

**A Rush Of Blood To The Head – Chapter XIII**

It was raining. Meredith plodded through the hospital foyer, listening to the relentless throbbing of the rain outside. She was still in her scrubs. She had not stopped walking around the hospital since she had been in room 401. She could not stop walking, for the moment she did, she feared that the whole situation would flood to her. She looked out onto the dark car park. There was House, sitting alone on one of the courtesy benches outside underneath the large awning. Without any thought, Meredith moved from her place near the elevator and walked outside. Moving to the bench, she sat down on the other side. House didn't move. He stayed looking out into the rain, waiting for nothing.

There Meredith and House sat there in silence, without anything to say, without wanting to say anything. For some reason, the both felt comforted by each other's presence without the need for conversation. There was only the rain. After a while sitting there, peering into the haze, Meredith looked up.

"You knew, didn't you?"

House remained still, his hands propped up on his cane in front of him. "There was no way I could have known."

"But you did."

House looked down to his feet and closed his eyes.

"Yes."

There was another silence, but still not uncomfortable. Neither wanted to come to the realisation of what they had just done. After a while, House looked up. "So, is there a bar or something round here?"

"There's Joe's, just across the road."

"Good."

House looked around into the hospital and then looked back. "You've got somewhere to go?"

Meredith was shocked at the question. She looked up at House to see if he was joking, but his face was resolutely sincere. "Ah, yeah. I do."

House looked forward into the rain again. "Good."

Tapping his cane on the ground once more, House lifted himself up from the bench. "You did good today Dr Grey."

Before Meredith could say thanks or even react, House walked away into the car park, folding up his collar as he walked through the pouring rain to Joe's.

00000000000000000000000000

Derek sat back on the coach in his trailer, watching TV on the wall. Suddenly he turned it off. Through the pouring rain outside, he could swear he heard the engine of a car. Wiping his face with his hands wake up, Derek sprang up when he heard a knock on the trailer door. He swept away some clothes that lay on the floor with his foot and opened up the door.

"Meredith!" Derek exclaimed, his stomach now completely full of butterflies. But then he became concerned. Meredith looked sad, exhausted, her dirty brown hair absolutely soaked. Without saying a word, Meredith walked past Derek into the trailer, chucked her jacket onto the bench and headed for Derek's bed. Still holding open the door, Derek watched as Meredith sat on his bed, took off her shoes and lay on his bed, cuddling herself up underneath the covers.

Derek closed the door. Curious but concerned about what had happened to Meredith, he walked up to his bed in which she was now lying on her side, snug underneath the covers, staring at the space in front of her.

Derek sat down on the side of the bed and looked over at Meredith, now facing away from him. "Everything ok?"

Meredith remained still. "Yeah."

Derek sighed and looked away. Then slowly he took off his shoes, lifted up the covers and slid next to Meredith. She continued to look away. Derek slowly inched towards her then put his arms around her. Meredith grasped his hand and then pulled him closer to her. Derek smiled and brushed her damp hair away. Meredith closed her eyes and slept in his arms.

000000000000000000000

"Bartender! A double scotch."

Joe moved round to pour a drink and put it on the counter. House picked it up and took a swig. With a slight grimace, House put the glass back down on the counter. Cane resting against his stool, House sat alone at the bar, a few people murmuring away in the dark corners. Picking up his glass again, he tilted it from side to side, looking at the reflections of light that shone through the glass on the counter. With a heavy sigh, House lifted up his glass and took another sip. But something caught his eye. Slamming down the glass he looked over to the other side of the bar where a man was emerging from the bathrooms.

"Wilson!"

Wilson stopped shocked. Looking up he saw House sitting at the bar, perplexed at what he was seeing. "House!" Wilson said awkwardly. "Hi. Ah, what are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What the hell are…"

Suddenly there was a loud crash. House swerved round to see a man collapsed on the floor, lying in a pool of beer and liqueur. House stopped short. He recognised this man. Wilson ran to him and looked at his pupils.

"House! You're not going to help? Ring the hospital and get them to send a gurney."

House remained sitting on his stool, glass of scotch in hand, leaning against the counter.

"That guy shot me."

00000000000000000000

NB: Well, that's the end of "A Rush Of Blood To The Head". Good times, good times. But not to worry, am not stopping with that but writing it's sequel, "A Call To Apathy" (note 'The Shins' reference) Anywho, means I shall continue on with all the Grey's/House storylines. Hope you read it.

But on other note, in case you haven't noticed, included Wilson into story so hopefully that will satisfy people. Good good. Well, last time I'm going to say this for this story: REVIEW!!! That's right, you there! You 94 percent of people who don't review! Make this a ceremonial review for the last chapter will ya?

Seriously, seriously gotta learn to stop hounding readers.


End file.
